The donut headed off into the distance and we followed it. We had no idea where it was going or even if it was a good idea to be blindly following a constantly surprised donut.
I hope this isn't going to end up with us getting into another ridiculous fight. We could do with a day of rest.

Eventually, the tunnel lead us into a darkened enclosed area filled with metal bars and struts. The donut headed towards a figure that appeared to be waiting for us. He had another little creature with him.

The man introduced himself as Yoshi. He said he had been monitoring our encounter with Snake, with the help of Pip the donut who he had sent out to follow us. He was glad that we had defeated him and welcomed us to his camp.

He seemed friendly, although he looked even more like Steven Seagal than the last guy.

Yoshi told me that he and Snake had once been in a military unit similar to ours. Snake had become greedy and over protective of the items he found on this land and so Yoshi fell out with him and parted company.
He went on to say that they too had been stranded here and he had given up trying to find a way home a long time ago.
I told him that this is only our second week here and we plan to find our way home.

Yoshi told us we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted if we needed to rest a while, and that Pip and Flump were able to help us if necessary.

Yoshi had told us of a wise old man who may be able to help. It is said that he possesses the ability to travel through space and time. He lived at the top of a nearby mountain, but Yoshi had said he was difficult to find and had given up, which is why he is still here.

I told the samurai who we were and why we were here. He introduced himself as Iwata, and that his dragon was called Ybrik.
He told us that he did indeed once have the ability to manipulate space and time, but that was a long time ago. He did not know if he was still able, for he was now too old for such things.

He invited us to sit and rest a while as he prepared some food and drink.

Iwata-san made us some terrific sandwiches and we sat and told our tale to him. Ybrik the dragon was quite hungry as well and Drew had fun feeding him a huge baguette.
There was a distinct lack of furniture in this mountain-top hideaway as he didn't normally get visitors. Iwata-san provided us with little blue cushions to sit on.
They weren't very comfy.

As we were finishing our sandwiches, Iwata-san went off to prepare to send us back home with his time travelling wizardry. He brought us over to a large vat of green liquid. He said we were to climb into it and he would use his wise old magic to send us back.

With the aid of Ybrik, we all managed to climb into the vat of green liquid.
Iwata-san waved his staff and said some magic stuff. The green liquid began to swirl and bubble up. It also smelt of mouthwash - quite minty.
As the liquid became more lively, Iwata-san reminded us that he hadn't done this in ages and it might not work. He didn't even tell us where we'd end up if it did work.

It was clear that we were no longer in the vat of green liquid. Iwata-san had managed to send us somewhere, but where? and when?
We could hear some noises in the distance as the black fog began to clear. They sounded familiar but we needed to get closer.

We successfully travelled through time and space. To 30 minutes ago and slightly away from where we were. It's not what we had in mind.
Just as we were getting to grips with what we saw, we could feel the same sensation as before, and the black fog started to descend again.

Suddenly, we appeared back in the vat with Ybrik and Iwata-san looking on. The green liquid was now gone.
Iwata-san said that he thought it had worked so he emptied the liquid away. I told him it hadn't. Well, not as expected anyway.

I explained that he had managed to send us back to 30 minutes earlier and about 20 feet over there. He said it was because he was old and out of practice. His magic wasn't strong enough to send us back to our own land anymore.
He suggested we looked elsewhere for a way home, as he couldn't help us.

We thanked him and Ybrik very much for their help and sandwiches and we made our way back down the mountain. It was at this point I wondered why we hadn't come in the helicopter.